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Synthesis of novel poly-carboxylic acids via click reaction and their application for easy-care treatment of cotton fabrics

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Abstract

Maleic acid (MA) has been studied to replace formaldehyde-based crosslinking agents for antiwrinkle treatment of cotton fabrics for many years. However, the resilience of cotton fabrics treated by MA is not acceptable. In this study, a novel poly-carboxylic acid of ethyldimercaptan disuccinic acid (EDMDSA) was synthesized by MA and 1,2-Dimercaptoethane (DME) via click reaction and then applied on antiwrinkle finishing of cotton fabrics. The chemical structure of EDMDSA was confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and mass spectra. The results indicated that the recommended antiwrinkle finishing conditions were 0.3 mol L−1 EDMDSA with equal molar ratio of sodium hypophosphite, curing temperature of 170 °C and curing time of 90 s. After treating, the wrinkle recovery angle of cotton fabrics finished by EDMDSA increased from 137.2° of untreated fabrics to 251.3°, which was significantly higher than 216° of those treated by MA. Besides, due to more flexible structure of EDMDSA, the finished cotton fabrics have slightly weaker antiwrinkle performance but higher strength retention than those treated by 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid. Facile synthesis and purification of EDMDSA as well as their excellent crosslinking and durability performance indicate they have a potential industrial-scale application in the field of non-formaldehyde anti-wrinkle treatment.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFB0309600) and the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities and Graduate Student Innovation Fund of Donghua University (No. CUSF-DH-D-2020064). Also, we are grateful for support offered by Jiangsu Lianfa Textile Co., Ltd., Nantong, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Songjiang, Shanghai, 201620, People’s Republic of China

    Hanchang Hu, Tingwei Cai, Jiani Xu, Chen Meng, Xia Dong, Qiangqiang Zhao & Jinxin He

  2. National Engineering Research Center for Dyeing and Finishing of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, People’s Republic of China

    Xia Dong

  3. The Key Laboratory of Textile Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, 201620, People’s Republic of China

    Jinxin He

  4. State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, People’s Republic of China

    Rongliang Wu

  5. Lutai School of Textile and Apparel, Shangdong University of Technology, Zibo, 255000, People’s Republic of China

    Fuqiang Li

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  1. Hanchang Hu
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  2. Fuqiang Li
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  3. Tingwei Cai
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  4. Jiani Xu
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  5. Chen Meng
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  6. Xia Dong
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  7. Qiangqiang Zhao
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  8. Rongliang Wu
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  9. Jinxin He
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Contributions

HH: Investigation, Data curation, Methodology, Visualization, Writing—original draft, Writing-review & editing. FL: Methodology, Formal analysis. TC: Data curation, Formal analysis, Washing ability test. JX: Data curation, Formal analysis, FTIR test. CM: Data curation, Formal analysis, Breaking tensile strength test. XD: Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing—review & editing. QZ: Data curation, Writing—review & editing. RW: Computational simulation. JH: Funding acquisition, Project administration, Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing—review & editing.

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Correspondence to Jinxin He.

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Hu, H., Li, F., Cai, T. et al. Synthesis of novel poly-carboxylic acids via click reaction and their application for easy-care treatment of cotton fabrics. Cellulose 29, 9437–9452 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-022-04825-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-022-04825-x

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